Some electronic devices, such as integrated circuit devices that are configured to form a portion of a three-dimensional (3-D) integrated circuit, may be designed to communicate with other electronic devices over very short distances during normal operation thereof. As such, these electronic devices may include small, low power output drivers that may operate at output current levels of a few milliamps or less, with lower output current levels being more common as electronic devices continue to shrink. These low power output drivers may be sufficient to permit communication between the various components of the 3-D integrated circuit (such as between a processor chip and a memory chip thereof) that are separated by distances on the order of a few millimeters or less. However, the low current output from these low power output drivers may present challenges to electronic communication with the low power output drivers over longer distances (such as distances on the order of tens of centimeters to meters).
For example, when a test system is utilized to electronically test an integrated circuit device that includes low power output drivers, it may be necessary to communicate with the low power output drivers over longer distances. This may include transferring low current input signals to the integrated circuit device from the test system and/or receiving low current data signals from the integrated circuit device with the test system, such as via one or more data signal transmission lines. These data signal transmission lines may define lengths of several tens of centimeters or more, with a capacitance of the data signal transmission lines increasing with the length thereof.
Under these conditions, a rise time for a data signal that is conveyed by the data signal transmission lines may be longer than a clock cycle of the integrated circuit device, with the rise time being a result of the resistive-capacitive time delay of the data signal transmission lines. This may complicate receipt, detection, and/or interpretation of the low power data signals. Thus, there exists a need for improved systems and methods for testing electronic devices that include low power output drivers.